A grown woman, named Martha, in her late 40s lies in her bed, a bit worried about how her daughter hasn’t called her in quite a while.
Martha hates to come off as the kind of parents who hover over her child like a hawk, but it’s quite concerning to her that her daughter hasn’t even posted an update on her social media feed for a month.
Martha knows well enough that her daughter is an avid social media user and has regularly posted pictures of herself with Damon for years ever since they met.
Something just doesn’t feel right.
The woman sighs, grabs her phone and dials her daughter’s number.
“Hello? Monica? Are you there?”, she asked.
No answer. Her mother tried again. Again no answer.
Her heart started to beat faster, but she had to stay calm. She knew she had to keep her head cool and collected in order to find her daughter.
She pondered, “If I was a young girl in living near a resort area with a boyfriend, where would I go?”
Martha’s eyes lit up and stood up, “A beach!”
The woman quickly left her home and got into her car. As the car engine started, she could see the sun starting to set.
“Don’t worry honey, I’ll find you.”
The car ride to reach a beach was only an hour long, but it felt like forever to Martha.
“Why has Monica stopped talking to me?”, she said.
Awful thoughts crept up to her head, but she shook her fears off. Martha knew at least one thing about finding her daughter, things wouldn’t get better if she cried and panicked about finding her child.
Martha breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a lovely beach near her sight. The setting of the sun made the water’s surface sparkle. It seemed like the perfect location for someone in Monica’s age to be with a boyfriend.
Martha’s eyes widened when she saw Monica’s car just in the parking lot.
“Bingo.”, the mother whispered.
Martha parked her car next to her daughters and kept out of the vehicle to the sandy beach, not noticing a “Private Property: Keep Out!” sign next to the sandy entrance. Not even the sign's illustration of a mermaid caused the mother to stop, she was too focused on finding her baby.
As Martha ran on the sand, she could see footprints on the sand leading to the ocean.
The woman’s breathing was getting heavy, her heart felt like it was going to burst.
Martha finally stopped as her lower body was submerged in the beach’s warm water. Her eyes watered as she realized her daughter’s footprints lead to the ocean. She sniffled as the implications of what happened to her daughter rushed through her head.
The mother raised her head and screamed for her daughter, “Martha!, Where are you?”